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On Thursday in Toronto, York University’s undergraduate student union — the York Federation of Students — passed a resolution in favor of the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. The York Federation of Students is the largest student union in Canada.

The resolution demands that the university administration “abides by the BDS call” and urges York to “withdraw its investments from Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Amphenol and other companies that are selling weapons and military equipment to Israel.”

Last November, the graduate students’ union at York passed a similar resolution during the 8 days of Israeli attacks on Gaza. When the graduate students’ union’s resolution passed, York student activists announced they were working to encourage the undergraduate students’ union to endorse the BDS motion.

Thursday’s press release from Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) at York University states, in full:

On this International Day Against Racial Discrimination, in an historic vote at the largest students’ union in Canada, York University’s undergraduate students’ union, the York Federation of Students, voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution to endorse the Global Campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid.

The resolution was drafted in response to the 2005 Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel as a means to pressure it to comply with international law and to end its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza; allow Palestinian refugees their internationally guaranteed right to return to their homes and villages; and grant equal rights to Palestinian citizens of Israel.

With 18 votes in favor and 2 opposed, the board of the York Federation of Students passed the resolution to endorse the BDS campaign, as well as demand that York University abide by the BDS call; specifically urging the University to withdraw its investments from Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, Amphenol and other companies that are selling weapons and military equipment to Israel.

“The oppression of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli state is not some far off issue that we can choose to ignore. We are already deeply implicated in the human rights violations of the Israeli State through our investments in the above-mentioned companies. We do not have the privilege to remain ‘neutral’ on this issue,” said Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) York collective member Huda Al-Sarraj.

In November of this academic year, SAIA York achieved its first BDS success with the passing of a BDS motion at the York University Graduate Students’ Association (GSA). SAIA York now hopes to bring its demand for divestment to the York University Administration by lobbying for the implementation of a socially responsible investment policy. With the support of the GSA and the YFS, as well as the TA’s, GA’s and contract faculty union, CUPE 3903, which passed a BDS motion in 2006, SAIA York will now demand an end to the investment of university funds into companies that profit from violations of international law and human rights.

Comments

As a Jew who is not a Zionist I am deeply proud of the students at York who risk the violent wrath of those who support the Zionist entity by joining the boycott! It has been a long struggle to bring the terrible injustice of the theft of Palestine and its brutal occupation to the public view. Charges of anti-"Semitism" have been leveled against even the mildest of critiques of the Zionist government. Now, it seems, the world is developing a maturity and standing up to the bullies.

Issued by Alan Horwitz for StopTheJNF, a campaign initiated by a group of Jewish South Africans committed to justice and rights for the Palestinian people.

"As Jews, with our own painful history of oppression, we are compelled to speak out against human rights violations being committed by the State of Israel – in our name – against the Palestinian people.

The Jewish community is neither homogeneous nor monolithic. There is a growing number of Jews, in South Africa and around the world, who are organising to form alternative spaces and who unconditionally oppose Israeli policies and practices that shamefully privilege Jews over the indigenous Palestinian people. In this vein, we support the non-violent campaign of applying Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it abides by international law and respects basic human rights."